Readers of this board might enjoy the following posted by Mark Bassett on the Nevada Northern Discussion Group:

From: "MXBASSETT"
Date: Fri Oct 10, 2003 1:50 am
Subject: Ash Pit

I have always thought that the NN Ry was a special place. But it
really came home to me in finding the plans for the ash pit. What
follows is the story of finding the plans.

Not just any old ash pit

For the past couple of weeks I had a notice at the bottom of
this column, asking whether anyone knew what the old ash pit looked
like. Seemed like a simple question, but its answer actually has
major ramifications.
Let me start at the beginning. Steam engines burn coal. This
coal turns into ash and clinkers (clinkers are the impurities of the
coal fusing together in the heat of the firebox.) Currently, when the
ashes need to be empty from the firebox of Locomotive 93, we do it in
front of the enginehouse. This is bad for a couple of reasons. The
first reason is the rails holding 93 up are anchored by wooden ties.
Drop hot ashes and cinders on top of wooden ties and guess what
happens? The ties catch on fire and start burning, not a good plan.
Secondly, after you drop the ashes between the rails, you need to
remove the ashes or they build up and you bury the rails, another bad
idea. To remove the ashes we use the bucket on our backhoe and remove
them one-bucket load at a time. Not the best use of resources, to say
the least.
The Nevada Northern solved this problem years ago by
constructing an ash pit. An ash pit is exactly what it sounds like, a
pit that the locomotive sits over and drops its ashes. Simple enough,
when the pit is full, it's emptied out, already for more ashes. That
was then.
This is now, with the increase of the operating schedule it
became very evident that we need an ash pit. Dropping the ashes in
front of the enginehouse is not a good solution. With our centennial
fast approaching and the desire to operate steam locomotives five or
more days a week, we really needed an ash pit.
Great, since the Nevada Northern Railway operated steam
locomotives from 1905 until the 1950's there had to be an ash pit
somewhere on the grounds, but where?
So I started to ask around, where was the ash pit? I asked
old time volunteers, I asked old Nevada Northern employees. Nobody
knew where the ash pit was; it turned out I was asking the wrong
people. Then I asked TJ Lani. He knew and pointed it right out to
me.
The only hint of where the ash pit was, was what looked like
a concrete line in the soil. It turns out that this concrete "line"
was actually the top of the ash pit walls. Great, ash pit
rediscovered. Volunteers removed the rails and ties from the area
indicated by the concrete "line". Keith Carson brought over his
grandson and a front end loader and in a couple of hours dug out the
old ash pit, Buried in the yard were the three concrete walls and
concrete footings that made up the ash pit. Great!
But every success has a challenge as a part of it. The
challenge here was the concrete walls were exposed, but there was no
sign of the structure that support the track over the ash pit. What
did it look like?
Now, you might be saying what difference does it make what
the ash pit track structure looked like? It makes a big difference.
In the first place the entire yard is a National Historic
District. This honor was bestowed on the railroad because for the
most part the yard is the same today as it was in 1917. Locomotives
93 and 40 came to the Nevada Northern brand new in 1909 and 1910
respectively. This is the real McCoy and one of the challenges of
maintaining the Nevada Northern is keeping it the real McCoy. It is
our responsibility to preserve and interpret the Nevada Northern as
it was and is, not to change it. So hence my request for pictures or
recollections of the ash pit, and I received, nothing. I mean who
paid any attention to an ash pit?
Yet, here I was with a big hole in the ground and the need to
construct a new ash pit. My biggest fear was I would find nothing and
construct something that was my best guess. And then sure enough on
the day we put the new ash pit in to service, someone would come
forward with a picture and say, "Why doesn't your ash pit look like
this one in the photograph that my great uncle Charlie took?" Great,
so much for living up to our mission statement.
Well, I'm sure you'll be glad to know that I can rest easy,
because I found the original plans for the ash pit in the vault. The
vault is truly what makes the Nevada Northern a national treasure.
Something as mundane as ash pit plans still exists and was saved
after all of these years.
The plans consist of three sheets of vellum (a drawing paper)
and show how the original ash pit was built and all of the
specifications and materials for the job. The first two sheets were
drawn in 1908 with the third sheet drawn in 1915 that showed changes
to the original design. The plans were drawn on vellum that was 27
inches wide by 38 inches long. They were drawn in ink, by hand and
the detail work showing the bolt and nut assembly that anchors the
structure is in itself a work of art.
So everything that I wanted to know about the ash pit that
served the Nevada Northern Railway is right there in those plans. Now
it is up to us to reconstruct the ash pit according to those plans,
just like it was done in 1908. That is how we stay true to our
mission


jbwest@att.net

John-

Thanks for the story. A great case of not re-inventing the wheel as well! Now, if I could just hit the lottery and buy the old P.M. roundhouse lands just east of 16th street....

TJ

> Readers of this board might enjoy the
> following posted by Mark Bassett on the
> Nevada Northern Discussion Group:

> From: "MXBASSETT"
> Date: Fri Oct 10, 2003 1:50 am
> Subject: Ash Pit

> I have always thought that the NN Ry was a
> special place. But it
> really came home to me in finding the plans
> for the ash pit. What
> follows is the story of finding the plans.

> Not just any old ash pit

> For the past couple of weeks I had a notice
> at the bottom of
> this column, asking whether anyone knew what
> the old ash pit looked
> like. Seemed like a simple question, but its
> answer actually has
> major ramifications.
> Let me start at the beginning. Steam engines
> burn coal. This
> coal turns into ash and clinkers (clinkers
> are the impurities of the
> coal fusing together in the heat of the
> firebox.) Currently, when the
> ashes need to be empty from the firebox of
> Locomotive 93, we do it in
> front of the enginehouse. This is bad for a
> couple of reasons. The
> first reason is the rails holding 93 up are
> anchored by wooden ties.
> Drop hot ashes and cinders on top of wooden
> ties and guess what
> happens? The ties catch on fire and start
> burning, not a good plan.
> Secondly, after you drop the ashes between
> the rails, you need to
> remove the ashes or they build up and you
> bury the rails, another bad
> idea. To remove the ashes we use the bucket
> on our backhoe and remove
> them one-bucket load at a time. Not the best
> use of resources, to say
> the least.
> The Nevada Northern solved this problem
> years ago by
> constructing an ash pit. An ash pit is
> exactly what it sounds like, a
> pit that the locomotive sits over and drops
> its ashes. Simple enough,
> when the pit is full, it's emptied out,
> already for more ashes. That
> was then.
> This is now, with the increase of the
> operating schedule it
> became very evident that we need an ash pit.
> Dropping the ashes in
> front of the enginehouse is not a good
> solution. With our centennial
> fast approaching and the desire to operate
> steam locomotives five or
> more days a week, we really needed an ash
> pit.
> Great, since the Nevada Northern Railway
> operated steam
> locomotives from 1905 until the 1950's there
> had to be an ash pit
> somewhere on the grounds, but where?
> So I started to ask around, where was the
> ash pit? I asked
> old time volunteers, I asked old Nevada
> Northern employees. Nobody
> knew where the ash pit was; it turned out I
> was asking the wrong
> people. Then I asked TJ Lani. He knew and
> pointed it right out to
> me.
> The only hint of where the ash pit was, was
> what looked like
> a concrete line in the soil. It turns out
> that this concrete "line"
> was actually the top of the ash pit walls.
> Great, ash pit
> rediscovered. Volunteers removed the rails
> and ties from the area
> indicated by the concrete "line".
> Keith Carson brought over his
> grandson and a front end loader and in a
> couple of hours dug out the
> old ash pit, Buried in the yard were the
> three concrete walls and
> concrete footings that made up the ash pit.
> Great!
> But every success has a challenge as a part
> of it. The
> challenge here was the concrete walls were
> exposed, but there was no
> sign of the structure that support the track
> over the ash pit. What
> did it look like?
> Now, you might be saying what difference
> does it make what
> the ash pit track structure looked like? It
> makes a big difference.
> In the first place the entire yard is a
> National Historic
> District. This honor was bestowed on the
> railroad because for the
> most part the yard is the same today as it
> was in 1917. Locomotives
> 93 and 40 came to the Nevada Northern brand
> new in 1909 and 1910
> respectively. This is the real McCoy and one
> of the challenges of
> maintaining the Nevada Northern is keeping
> it the real McCoy. It is
> our responsibility to preserve and interpret
> the Nevada Northern as
> it was and is, not to change it. So hence my
> request for pictures or
> recollections of the ash pit, and I
> received, nothing. I mean who
> paid any attention to an ash pit?
> Yet, here I was with a big hole in the
> ground and the need to
> construct a new ash pit. My biggest fear was
> I would find nothing and
> construct something that was my best guess.
> And then sure enough on
> the day we put the new ash pit in to
> service, someone would come
> forward with a picture and say, "Why
> doesn't your ash pit look like
> this one in the photograph that my great
> uncle Charlie took?" Great,
> so much for living up to our mission
> statement.
> Well, I'm sure you'll be glad to know that I
> can rest easy,
> because I found the original plans for the
> ash pit in the vault. The
> vault is truly what makes the Nevada
> Northern a national treasure.
> Something as mundane as ash pit plans still
> exists and was saved
> after all of these years.
> The plans consist of three sheets of vellum
> (a drawing paper)
> and show how the original ash pit was built
> and all of the
> specifications and materials for the job.
> The first two sheets were
> drawn in 1908 with the third sheet drawn in
> 1915 that showed changes
> to the original design. The plans were drawn
> on vellum that was 27
> inches wide by 38 inches long. They were
> drawn in ink, by hand and
> the detail work showing the bolt and nut
> assembly that anchors the
> structure is in itself a work of art.
> So everything that I wanted to know about
> the ash pit that
> served the Nevada Northern Railway is right
> there in those plans. Now
> it is up to us to reconstruct the ash pit
> according to those plans,
> just like it was done in 1908. That is how
> we stay true to our
> mission



tjgaffney@phmuseum.org